I once saw a documentary on the United States Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island. It showed the intense training raw recruits go through to become Marines, and one of the things that struck me was how seriously every minor rule was taken by the drill instructors. Some kid got smoked because his uniform was slightly rumpled, nevermind that it came back from the launderers that way. Show up late, get smoked. Show up early, get smoked because something else wasn't done properly.
Doing everything right, the first time, every time, is something the drill instructors take pretty seriously at Parris Island. So is following every order, no matter how silly or unimportant it seems. No one will die because someone's mustache extended past the corner of their mouth, but it's not about mustaches, it's about obedience. Silly orders are obeyed because every order is obeyed, every time, and if the recruits start to think about which orders can be obeyed, and when, then people will start dying.
Do you ever stop to think that Christianity is rather similar? That God, knowing the plans He has for us, might have some orders that He needs us to follow, otherwise those plans may not work out as well as they might otherwise?
But that's not how we always look at it, once we're honest. A lot of the time, we see a list of God's Standing Orders for humanity, like most of the Bible, and think we're smart enough to know which orders matter, and which ones don't. We've read the book, we say, and it's not like we're out killing toddlers, so our little bits of disobedience don't matter much.
So we say.
But really, we're still being disobedient, with not a single clue to tell us whether or not the commandments we break in secret are important or not. God never tells us there are sins that hurt no one, instead we're told to never sin.
Ever.
Not minor sins, like little white lies (that still cause other people pain later when the truth comes out), like stealing music (which is still theft, no matter how many times I tell myself the music industry doesn't need another $5), or like looking up just a few more porno vids (which poisons every relationship I'll ever have with a distorted view of human sexuality).
Surely those little orders can't matter too much?
Surely God doesn't need us to follow all those rules, right?
Surely those Marines don't really need to learn to obey their sergeants 100% of the time, right?
Maybe He does, for the same reason those Marines learned to obey orders 100% of the time: Orders are obeyed, or people die. Kids who disobey orders in battle get not only themselves killed, but other people as well.
Christians who disobey God's commands often do serious spiritual and emotional damage to themselves, and other people, and like Marines who get shot or blown up in Iraq, the damage often lasts forever.
What those drill instructors will never tell a recruit is that sometimes battlefield commands are simply wrong, and instead of saving the day, will get a squad killed on accident. That's because the commanders are human as well, and all humans make mistakes.
God is not, human, though, and His orders will never get us killed or damaged on accident. The easy argument of "The Sarge is wrong", while probably stupid, simply cannot be applied to God. If God is God, then God is not wrong, and disobeying God is always the wrong move.
Even if it doesn't make sense, like perfecting a crease on a dress uniform.
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